Cerebras Systems closed a striking IPO on Thursday, pricing shares at $185 each and sending the stock up 68% on debut. The offering lifted the company’s market value to roughly $67 billion, a lofty figure for a firm that remains unprofitable and cash‑intensive as it builds a cloud service around its massive AI chips, and pits it against Nvidia’s dominant AI platform.

The timing aligns with a surge in AI enthusiasm: the PHLX Semiconductor Index has risen 31% this month, while Nvidia’s market cap jumped 20% in just over a week to about $5.7 trillion. Even established players such as Intel and AMD have more than doubled their shares in three months, underscoring the appetite for AI‑focused silicon and drives a scramble for custom silicon among cloud leaders.

Cerebras’ revenue grew 96% year‑over‑year to just over $171 million, yet Nvidia’s AI data‑center sales are projected near $73 billion for the quarter—over 400 times larger and expanding at a comparable pace. That scale gap forces Cerebras to chase niche customers while competing against entrenched rivals like Broadcom, AMD and Qualcomm, making its lofty valuation a high‑risk bet.